A SUMMERTOWN dentist has been treating some of the most remote smiles in the world in a bid to improve oral hygiene.

For a week, Amit Mohindra, owner of Diamond House Dental Practice, took his tools up to the Rif Mountains region, in North Eastern Morocco, to help treat and educate more than 1,000 people.

The 37-year-old described the experience as "overwhelming".

He said: "There is a big need because there are a lot of dental problems.

"A good example is that one day I had a young girl come in, she must have been about nine years old, and she was sobbing.

"She said she had gone to the hospital, which really was just a little room with a nurse, and had been told there was nothing they could do and she just had to put up with it.

"There was a big hole in her baby tooth and it was so sad that she was just told to have to deal with it, that should not happen."

Mohindra is a member of the Dental Mavericks Charity, which organises annual expeditions to help improve dental hygiene across the world and was with eight other UK dentists and nurses on this trip.

He added: "Of course in big Moroccan cities they have dentists.

"But these communities are so remote, they do not even have transport to get them down to the cities to be treated.

"We have also been trying to educate them about prevention, because that is obviously the most effective way of keeping teeth healthy.

"Any work we do on a tooth is temporary, and when you get that first filling you subject that tooth to a lifelong amount of work and repairs."

Mr Mohindra said that for the first time they were able to send out a mobile practice van so they could help treat even more people who were further afield.

He said: "As well as not having access to dental healthcare, it is almost part of their culture not to be concerned about having missing teeth.

"In Britain if you were to have your front tooth pulled out you would be quite upset about it but it is quite normal out there to have problems with your teeth."

Cally Gedge, co-founder of Dental Mavericks Charity, said: "This is our sixth year, and this Moroccan community now relies on UK dentists to rid them from the daily pain of decayed teeth.

"A massive improvement was seen this year due to a tooth brushing club which has been active since last year and also the fluoride programme."

Now that he is back in the UK, Mr Mohindra is hoping to encourage his staff to take their expertise and skills out to other remote cultures and places to help improve oral health.